CA2024557A1 - Vehicular splash guard with heater - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A vehicular splash guard having an integral heater is shown. The heater is operative for removing snow accumulation which have become adhered to the splash guard to the extent of interfering with the rotation of the wheel. The splash guard has an integral heater which is operative to heat the splash guard for melting the snow adhered thereon.

Description

``` ~Q~4~7 This invention relates to splash guards for a vehicle such as an automobile and the like5 and particularly relates to splash guards having an integral heater therein operative for the purpose of cleaning road dirt and particularly snow accumulation on their surfaces.
When a vehicle is in motion, the rotation of its wheels inherently will draw mud and dirt from the road surface and will throw such drawn up mud and dirt towards the rear por-tion of the wheel wells and the wheel fenders. Such mud and road dirt spun at a high speed by the wheels of the vehicle often cause damage to the painted surface of the rear por-tion of the wheel fenders. In order to prevent such splas-hing damage, commonly, spla~h guards are installed at the rear portion of the wheel wells facing the wheel to baffle the dawn up road particles from impacting onto the rear portion of the fenders. However, a common problem with splash guards is the accumulation of the spun mud and dirt which become adhered to the splash guard. Such problem is particularly acute in the snow districts in which the snow and road slush tend to accumulate onto the splash guards quickly, and the bulk of the compacted slush accumulation can completely occupy, in a short period of time,the space ; between the wheels and the splash guards. The compacted slush eventually can build up to such a bulk that it could 25 ~ be in contact with the wheel to become effectively external brakes that can interfer with the rotation of the wheels, thus it causes an unnecessary loss of power to the vehicle due to the reduction of the driving power. In order to eliminate such slush accumulation it is necessary for the operator of the vehicle to disembark the vehicle repeatedly to clean off the accumulation as frequently as possible ::

--~` 202~ 7 with a shovel or scrapper. Such repeated cleaning becomes an impossible task particularly during a heavy snow storm.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide a splash guard which is operative remotely to self-clean the road dirt accumulation thereon.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a splash guard having an integral heater which is operative to generate heat for eradicating particularly snow accumulation on its surface.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a self--cleaning splash guard having a simple construction and can be easily adapted on a vehicle without complex modification to the latter.
The lnvention, its features and further objects thereof are further delineated in the detailed description to follow of the illustrative embodiments.
Figure 1 is a partial side elevation of a rear fender portion of an automobile showing the accumulation of snow slush in the wheel well.
Figure 2 is a perspective exploded view of the splash guard according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the splash guard according to the present invention.
Figure 4 is a sectional side elevation of a second ~ 25 embodiment of the splash guard according to the present ; ~ invention.
Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the electrical installation of the splash guard according to the present invention.
With reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the several views,

2~2~'37 the splash guard 10 according to the present invention comprises a heating wire 11 sandwiched between two outside liners 12 and 13. The heating wire 11 may be arranged in a serpentine fashion such that, when actuated, heat is distri-buted evenly over the entire surface of the outside liners 12 and 13. The heating wire 11 is connected to lead wires 14 and 15 respectively with splice connectors 16. The outside liners 12 and 13 are made of rubber-like material commonly well known in the art. These liners may be adhered together with adhesive or by heat-weld and the edges are sealed with a water-tight sealant. Alternatively, the heating wire 11 may be integrally moulded in the liners such that it is fully impregnated in the liners. Also, :instead of lead w-ires, male push-on connectors 17 may be provided for easy handling and installation of the splash guard on a vehicle.
The sp].ash guard 10 may be installed on the wheel well of a vehicle in the common manner. One of the lead wires either 14 or 15 is then connected to one polarity of the battery 18 in the automobile through a control device 19 such as an on/off switch and a lighted indicator which will be lighted whenever the splash guard 10 is actuated. The other lead wire is connected to the other polarity of the battery 18. A control timer may be incorporated in the control device 19 so that whenever it is actuated, the ~heater element will be energized for a predetermined period of time. In snowing weather, when snow and slush are on the road surface, the splash guard can be energized by actuating the control device 19. The heat generated from the heating wire 11 will originally melt any snow adhering to the splash guard, and thereafter the heat generated from the heating wire 11 will maintain the splash guard surface heated such 202~7 that a film of water will form on the splash guard surface to prevent any further snow from adhering to the splash guard. Any snow or slush impacted on the splash guard surface with such a film of water thereon will automatically drop off from such wet surface.
A coating of low adherence material such as tetraflu-orene may be provided additionally over the surface of the splash guard to further reduce the formation of snow and road dirt attachment to the surface thereon.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

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Claims (7)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A splash guard for a vehicle comprising, a body panel member operative for mounting onto a rear portion of a wheel fender of the vehicle, a heater means disposed on said body panel memeber, said heater means being operative to heat a surface of said body panel member for eradicating any road dirt attachment to said surface.

2. A splash guard according to Claim 1 wherein said body panel member comprises a front panel and a rear panel and said heater means being sandwiched between said front panel and rear panel.

3. A splash guard according to Claim 2 wherein said heater means is an electrical heating wire arranged in a serpentine fashion over said body panel member.

4. A splash guard according to Claim 3 wherein said electrical heating wire is integrally moulded on said body panel member, and terminal means connected to said electrical heating wire and extending outside of said body panel member for electrical connections to said electrical heating wire.

5. A splash guard according to Claim 4 including a coating of low adherence material provided on a surface of said body panel member.

6. A self-cleaning vehicular splash guard system comprising a splash guard having a heater means disposed thereon, a control means connected to said heater means and an electrical battery in said vehicle, said control means being operative to actuate said heater means with said electrical battery over a predetermined period of time.

7. A splash guard according to Claim 2 or 6 wherein said heater means is a thin film resistive heater element.